With funding sources shifting, it's crucial to reassess and prioritize your nonprofit's programs to maintain impact. Consider these strategies:
- Evaluate each program's alignment with your mission and its outcomes to identify core initiatives.
- Conduct cost-benefit analyses to determine which programs deliver the most value for the least financial input.
- Engage stakeholders in a transparent dialogue about necessary changes to ensure continued support and understanding.
How have you navigated funding changes in your organization? Share your experiences.
Navigating funding changes means that leadership must remain flexible and engaged in continuous evaluation of return on investment. In some cases, one may need to add more resources to enhance successful funding opportunities, and in others, one may need to reduce investment order to fine-tune operations. it’s important to not assume that what worked five years ago, or even last year, will continue to work this year or next.
Strategy should be a living activity and not an annual report. Govindarajan mentions five weak signals to track continuously - changes in client demographics, change in service delivery, actions of other similar agencies, changes in technology and labor, and changes in government or regulatory changes. This is a great task for Board members as well as management. When your capital structure changes (as in this question), you are able to move swiftly to prioritize programs that have most impact and require highest protection.